Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
U.S. Air Force program managers should make greater use of tools that quantify the costs associated with schedule delays, according to Lt. Col. Ross McNutt, director of the Research and Development Management Program at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Researchers have discovered that the dollar value of lost program schedule time is not intuitive, according to McNutt. Informal estimates of the value of time made by different personnel often differ by factors of 50 to 100, he said.
With three of its four planned software block upgrades wrapped up, the X-45A Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program is looking forward to a final software upgrade that will culminate in a "graduation" demo this summer, according to Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale.
The Navy's GQM-163A "Coyote" Supersonic Sea Skimming Target program is planning the fourth of its six planned flight-tests for late March, according to a spokeswoman for engine provider Aerojet. Developed by Orbital Sciences Corp., the expendable GQM-163A will replace the Navy's dwindling inventory of MQM-8 Vandal Extended-Extended Range (EER) targets. The program's most recent flight-test took place Dec. 14 at Point Mugu, Calif. Aerojet provides the missile's variable flow ducted rocket (VFDR) ramjet engine.
